When an Iowa resident dies without a valid will, Chapter 633 of the Iowa Code decides who inherits. Under Iowa intestate succession, the surviving spouse comes first, then the decedent’s children and their descendants, then parents, then siblings and their descendants, and outward through more distant relatives before anything can pass to the state. How much the spouse takes depends on whether all the decedent’s children are also the spouse’s children, and none of these rules touch property that passes outside probate.
What the Intestate Rules Actually Control
Intestate succession only governs property that would otherwise pass through probate. A lot of what people own never enters probate in the first place. Retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, life insurance proceeds, and assets held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship go directly to the surviving owner or beneficiary. Bank and investment accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations work the same way, as do assets held in a properly funded trust.
Iowa also recognizes transfer-on-death deeds for real estate. The deed lets a property owner name a beneficiary who receives the property at death without probate, has no effect during the owner’s life, and can be revoked at any time. One catch: property transferred by a transfer-on-death deed remains subject to the surviving spouse’s elective share and can be pulled back into the estate if probate assets are not enough to cover creditors or statutory allowances owed to the spouse or children.1Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code – Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act Provisions
Everything else, the property that has no beneficiary designation and no survivorship feature, becomes the probate estate and follows the rules below.
What the Surviving Spouse Inherits
The spouse’s share turns on a single question: did the decedent leave any children who are not also the surviving spouse’s children?
All Children Are Shared, or There Are No Children
If the decedent had no children, or had children only with the surviving spouse, the spouse inherits essentially everything. That includes all real property the decedent owned at any point during the marriage that was not sold through a judicial sale or relinquished by the spouse, all personal property exempt from creditors, and all remaining personal property not needed to pay debts.2Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.211 – Share of Surviving Spouse if Decedent Left No Issue or Left Issue All of Whom Are Issue of Surviving Spouse
Some Children Are From Outside the Marriage
When the decedent has at least one child who is not also the surviving spouse’s child, the split changes. The spouse receives half the value of the real property from the marriage, all exempt personal property, and half of the remaining personal property after debts. If those combined shares come to less than $50,000, the spouse receives additional property to bring the total up to $50,000, even if that means taking the entire net estate.3Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.212 – Share of Surviving Spouse if Decedent Left Issue Some of Whom Are Not Issue of Surviving Spouse
The $50,000 figure is a floor. In a larger estate, the half-share calculations alone will usually put the spouse well above it. The other half of the real property and the other half of the remaining personal property pass to the decedent’s children.
The Homestead Election
In any intestate estate, the surviving spouse can elect a life estate in the family home instead of the normal share of the decedent’s real property. The election has to be filed formally with the court; skipping that step waives the right.4Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.240 – Election to Receive Homestead The tradeoff is real. A life estate keeps a roof over the spouse’s head for life but carries no power to sell. The standard share gives ownership that can be sold or used freely.
Who Inherits After (or Instead of) the Spouse
Whatever the spouse does not take passes down a fixed statutory ladder. If there is no surviving spouse at all, the whole net estate runs through the same ladder:5Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.219 – Share of Others Than Surviving Spouse
- Children and their descendants, per stirpes. A deceased child’s share drops to that child’s own children.
- Parents, if no children or grandchildren survive. If only one parent is alive, that parent takes everything.
- Siblings and their descendants. The estate splits into two equal halves, one for the descendants of the mother and one for the descendants of the father, each side taking per stirpes. If only one side has surviving descendants, that side takes the whole estate.
- Grandparents and their descendants, split between the paternal and maternal sides.
- Great-grandparents and their descendants, following the same pattern one generation further back.
- Descendants of a predeceased spouse, if no blood relative qualifies. If there were multiple predeceased spouses, their descendants share equally.
- The state of Iowa, only when no qualifying heir exists.
How Per Stirpes Works
Per stirpes means “by the branch.” The estate divides into equal shares at the first generation with a living member, and a deceased person’s share drops to their own descendants rather than being redistributed among their surviving siblings.
A common example: a parent dies with three children, one of whom has already died leaving two grandchildren. The estate splits into three equal shares. The two living children each take one third. The deceased child’s third splits between the two grandchildren, so each gets one sixth.6Justia. Iowa Code 633.219 – Share of Others Than Surviving Spouse
Who Counts as Family for Inheritance
Adopted Children and Stepchildren
A legally adopted child inherits from and through the adoptive parents exactly like a biological child. The other side of that: adoption cuts off inheritance rights from the biological parents. The one exception is stepparent adoption. When a stepparent adopts, the child keeps the inheritance relationship with the biological parent who is (or was) married to the stepparent. So a child adopted by a stepfather still inherits through the biological mother’s family.7Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.223 – Effect of Adoption
Stepchildren and foster children who were never legally adopted have no intestate inheritance rights in Iowa. The statute defines “child” to include adopted children but not stepchildren, and “issue” as lawful lineal descendants, biological or adopted. Without a formal adoption, there is no legal parent-child relationship for inheritance purposes.8Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.3 – Definitions
Half-Blood Relatives
Half-blood relatives inherit on equal footing with full-blood relatives. A half-sibling has the same rights as a full sibling.
Common-Law Spouses
Iowa is one of the few states that still recognizes common-law marriage, and a common-law spouse has the same inheritance rights as any other spouse. Proving the marriage after one partner has died is the hard part. Three elements have to be shown: both partners intended and agreed to be married, they lived together continuously, and they publicly held themselves out as married.9Iowa Legislature. Legislative Guide to Marriage Law – Common Law Marriage Iowa courts call the public-holding-out element the “acid test.” There is no such thing as a secret common-law marriage. After a death, the survivor must prove all three elements by clear and convincing evidence. Joint tax returns, shared bank accounts, and testimony from people who understood the couple to be married all help.
Children Conceived Around the Time of Death
A child conceived before the decedent’s death but born afterward inherits as if born during the decedent’s lifetime, once parentage is established. A child conceived after death using the decedent’s genetic material can inherit only if three conditions all apply: a genetic parent-child relationship is established, the decedent authorized the surviving spouse in a signed writing to use the material for the procedure, and the child is born within two years of the decedent’s death.10Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.220A – Posthumous Child Any existing heir whose share would shrink because of the posthumous child has one year from the birth to challenge in court.
What Can Reduce or Cancel an Heir’s Share
Debts, Expenses, and Taxes
Heirs take what remains after the estate pays its obligations. The administrator settles debts, taxes, and administrative costs before distributing anything. When there is not enough to cover everything, Iowa law sets a strict payment order: court costs first, then administrative expenses, reasonable funeral and burial costs, debts and taxes with federal priority, medical and hospital expenses from the last illness, taxes with state priority, Medicaid recovery claims, employee wages for the 90 days before death, unpaid child support and related family court obligations, and finally all other claims.11Justia. Iowa Code 633.425 – Classification of Debts and Charges
If the estate is insolvent, heirs get nothing, but creditors also cannot chase heirs personally for the decedent’s debts beyond what those heirs inherited. Iowa’s inheritance tax was fully repealed for anyone dying on or after January 1, 2025, so a 2026 estate owes no Iowa inheritance tax.12Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 450.98 – Tax Repealed
Advancements
If the decedent gave a substantial gift to an heir during life and meant it to count against that heir’s eventual inheritance, Iowa treats it as an advancement. The gift’s value is added back to the estate for the calculation, and the heir’s share is reduced by what they already received.6Justia. Iowa Code 633.219 – Share of Others Than Surviving Spouse Proof matters. Without evidence that the decedent meant the gift as an early distribution, the default assumption is that a gift was just a gift.
The Slayer Rule
Anyone who intentionally and unjustifiably causes the decedent’s death forfeits all inheritance rights. The property then passes as if the killer had died first, so it flows to the next eligible heir. The rule reaches every form of transfer, including joint tenancy, life insurance, beneficiary designations, and intestate succession itself.13Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.535 – Person Causing Death or Injury
How the Estate Gets Administered
An intestate estate goes through the probate court, which appoints an administrator to do the practical work. Iowa gives priority to petition for administration in this order: the surviving spouse, then the heirs, then creditors, then anyone else who can show good cause.14Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.227 – Administration Granted The administrator gathers assets, notifies creditors, files an inventory, pays debts, and distributes the rest. A bond is usually required, though the court can waive it when doing so will not harm creditors or heirs.15Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.175 – Waiver of Bond by Court
Creditor Deadlines
Once the administrator publishes notice of the estate, creditors have four months from the second publication to file claims. Claims not filed in that window are generally barred, and no claim can be filed more than one year after the date of death regardless of when notice went out.16Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 633.410 – Limitation on Filing Claims Between the deadlines and the time needed to resolve claims, most Iowa probate cases run at least six to nine months, and contested or complex estates take longer.
The Small Estate Track
Iowa offers a simplified process, under Chapter 635, for estates where the gross value of probate assets does not exceed $200,000.17Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 635.1 – Administration of Small Estates The steps are the same as full probate: an administrator is appointed, assets are inventoried, creditors are notified, and debts are paid. The closing is what differs. Instead of a formal hearing, the administrator files a verified closing statement showing the proposed distribution. If no one objects within 30 days after the closing statement is served, the clerk closes the estate without a court order and discharges the administrator. The distribution rules and creditor priorities are the same as in a full probate; only the timeline and paperwork shrink.